Rowville Rail among transport projects demanded by Eastern Transport Coalition

A TRAIN line first mooted almost 50 years ago is the centrepiece of a lobby group’s list of transport projects needed to ease traffic chaos in Melbourne’s east.

• Train pain hits the big screen
• Our traffic becoming a never-ending peak
• Ten million more trips for transport network
• Rail line off track

BUILDING the Rowville and Doncaster railway lines, a new rail track to service the southeast and removing all level crossings and are among the projects needed to end traffic gridlock in Melbourne’s east, a lobby group says.

The Eastern Transport Coalition (ETC) today launched its Commuters Count campaign, aimed at securing state and federal money for transport improvements.

ETC chairman Cr Peter Lockwood said there were 49 projects that member councils had identified as priorities.

HAVE YOUR SAY: Is it time to spend big to alleviate transport and traffic woes in the east? Tell us below

The councils involved are Greater Dandenong, Knox, Manningham, Maroondah, Monash, Whitehorse and Yarra Ranges.

Construction work to remove the level crossing at Blackburn. The Eastern Transport Coalition wants all level crossings in the eastern suburbs removed. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

The group’s transport priorities report states the growth of rail patronage in the east is placing strain on trains and trams and there are issues that affect the reliability of services, such as signal failure and a shortage of rolling stock.

The Rowville Rail line was first proposed in 1969. It would be a twin set of dedicated tracks that would separate from the Dandenong line at Huntingdale station.

The report found it would improve transport choices and accessibility to Monash University and other clusters.

Cr Lockwood said the importance of building the long-awaited Doncaster rail line could not be overstated because of the rise in traffic congestion.

He said the Doncaster railway was expected to relieve congestion on the Eastern Freeway.

The group is also lobbying for a track duplication between Mooroolbark and Lilydale and a track quadruplication between Burnley and Camberwell.

It also wants a dedicated southeastern rail track to separate regional passengers and freight from metropolitan trains, to ease congestion along the Dandenong line.

Cr Lockwood said 14 of 24 level crossings in the east were being removed by the State Government over the coming years.

But he said the ETC wanted a commitment for the removal of the remaining 10, including at Mont Albert, Croydon and Dandenong South.

Eastern Transport Coalition members Cr Michael Macdonald (Maroondah) Cr Peter Lockwood (Knox) and Cr Bill Bennett (Whitehorse) at the busy Box Hill Station bus interchange. Picture: Steve Tanner

Whitehorse Council ETC representative Cr Bill Bennett said the Box Hill public transport interchange was in urgent need of infrastructure improvements.

“The current facilities are dysfunctional and disconnected, causing safety, connectivity and accessibility issues for train, tram, bus and taxi users as well as pedestrians and cyclists,” the report states.

The ETC found infrequent bus services, particularly at weekends, had resulted in under-utilisation of buses despite increasing traffic congestion, higher petrol prices, and emissions concerns.

Cr Bennett said the group would take its case to the State and Federal governments because they had to act now to put sustainable and integrated transport on the agenda.

Mick Van de Vreede, long time Rowville Rail campaigner, and Shing Hei Ho, who made a documentary about the 40-year fight to make the project a reality. Picture: Steve Tanner

THE WISHLIST

■ Rowville Rail

■ Doncaster Rail

■ Removing another 10 level crossings

■ A rail track to service the southeast

■ A track duplication between Mooroolbark and Lilydale and a track quadruplication between Burnley and Camberwell

■ Croydon station upgrade

■ Tram route 75 extension from Vermont to Knox and tram route 48 extension from Balwyn North to Doncaster Hill

The lobby group says completing a Doncaster rail line would ease congestion on the Eastern Freeway. Picture: Ian Currie

■ Bus interchange upgrades at Box Hill, Glen Waverley and Oakleigh stations

■ Westall Rd extension from Princes Highway to Monash Freeway/Ferntree Gully Rd

■ Dorset Rd extension from Burwood Highway through to Napoleon Rd and ultimately to Lysterfield Rd

■ Yarra Ranges road improvements including better infrastructure at Canterbury Rd, Kilsyth (Dorset Rd to Mount Dandenong Rd)

■ A bridge across the Yarra River at Banksia Park

■ Maroondah Highway bicycle lane

■ Burwood Highway shared path